Website www.fitness-n-function.co.nz E-mail michelle@fitness-n-function.co.

nz Phone 021 770 153

Visit the Fitness-n-Function website for more information www.fitness-n-function.co.nz

Sleep and Maintaining A Good Body Clock
Each of us have an internal body clock called the
Suprachaismatic Nucleus that regulates our daily sleep -
wake patterns. This is often referred to as the Body
Clock and it governs the release and timing of most
mood, energy and sleep related hormones.

The body clock is dependant on light signals to function
properly each day, dawn and dusk allows us to know
when wake up or go to sleep. For many people their
lifestyles, living conditions, work, health and other
conditions dont allow them to get the correct wake -
sleep signals anymore. When we dont get these correct
signals, our sleep - wake patterns suffer and this can
develop into a sleep disorder. When we have disrupted
sleep patterns our body becomes stressed from the
release of hormones at incorrect times in the day.

Good quality sleep gives the body a chance to repair,
recover and heal. We get our physiological recovery
between 10pm and 2pm and our psychological and
nervous system recovery between 2am and 6am. If you
are getting into bed at 12pm on a regular basis it means
that you are missing two hours a night of your physical
recovery. This can results in all sorts of aches pains and
niggles that will not get better. Refer to the charts on the
second page for more details.

When our bodies are healthy we can get away with the
odd late night here or there without affecting us to much.
However, when we abuse our sleep times on a regular
basis, this becomes a major stress to the body, upsetting
hormonal balance and causing adrenal fatigue. When the
body is under stress of any sort, the immune system
suffersTHERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS TO THIS!

Sometimes we can not change our sleeping situation, for
example, shift workers or parents with new babies. I n
these situations it is important to look after yourself in all
other areas of your life to reduce overall load. See the Six
Foundation Life Principles on the website for more
information.

Our daily sleep - wake patterns are called circadian
rhythms. Circadian is Latin for about a day. If you
struggle with sleep a circadian rhythm disorder is probably
a factor. The body clock uses signals like sunlight and
darkness to know when to produce the active hormones
and when to shut them down and release the night time
withdrawal and sleep hormones.

Our bodies crave and need regularity in all areas of our
lives and this is not just related to sleep. Our bodies thrive
when we have regular eating, sleeping, hydration,
exercise and other important life principles. If we have the
required regularity then our system will be in time with
our body clock. When we loose the regularity that our
system needs them we suffer in many areas.

Things that inhibit sleep
Many things can disrupt our sleep - wake cycles, working
late in bright lights, especially florescent, electromagnetic
stress from computers, TVs flickering, training at high
intensities late in the evening, coffee, V drinks, sweet
deserts.
Alcohol and sugar can both make you crash to sleep but
then wake later in the night through a drop in blood sugar
level, to find yourself tossing and turning in the early
hours and feeling hungry.
Toxicity in the body is a common thing today as people
eat more and more processed foods, bad fats, food
colouring and preservatives.
Entrainment is another factor. People can retrain a sleep
pattern with in 7 to 21 days, for example if you stay up till
midnight for three weeks in a row your internal body clock
will be trained to wait till midnight to start cortisol
reduction. This means melatonin, the sleep recovery and
repair hormone kick in very late and you will be robbed
of recovery time. This over time leads to chronic fatigue,
adrenal stress, suppressed immune function and poor or
impaired physiological repair resulting in aches pains and
niggles.
SLEEPHow To Mai ntai n A Heal thy Body Cl ock

Wellness Newsletter










Michelle Owen C.H.E.K. Practitioner Level 3, C.H.E.K. NLC Level 2
Did You Know
When you get up in the
night and switch on a
light your wake - sleep
centre will think the light
is dawn and it will re-
lease cortisol, serotonin
and other alertness
hormones. This dimin-
ishes the melatonin
(sleep homone) and
makes it difficult to re-
sume your sleep.
You get back into bed
and you try to get back
to sleep. Your body has
gone into wake-up mode
and this is why many
people have trouble
getting back to sleep.
Sleeping In The Day
If you have to sleep
during the day I recom-
mend that you always
wear an Eye Mask and
make the room as dark
as possible. This will
reduce the amount of
light filtering through
eye lids and assist in a
better quality of nap or
sleep
This will allow you to get
a far better quality of
sleep and you will wake
up feeling far more re-
freshed than if you try to
sleep without one.
Tips to assist you in getting good quality sleep.
If you have a busy mind try writing your thoughts in a journal to get them out instead of them racing around in your head while trying to sleep.
As the evening goes you can assist with the reduction of cortisol (stress hormone) from your body and increase melatonin (sleep hormone). There are
many ways to do this and everyone will have something different that appeals to them. Some of these are;
- A hot relaxing bath,
- Dim the lights,
- Candles,
- Massage,
- Deep diaphragmatic breathing,
- Meditations,
- Soft music,
- Positive reading,
- It is healthy for your sleep cycle if you do not go to bed with either a full or on an empty stomach.
Eating a correct snack for your Metabolic Type will help greatly with the quality of your sleep.

Keep your bedroom like a cave, remember light and lights stimulates cortisol when the light hits your
skin wake hormones will be released. Avoid street lights shinning in, computers, TVs or flashing alarm
clocks (EMP), keep them out of the bedroom or turn off at the wall.
Website www.fitness-n-function.co.nz E-mail michelle@fitness-n-function.co.nz Phone 021 770 153
Visit the Fitness-n-Function website for more information www.fitness-n-function.co.nz
Figure 1: Natural sleep/ wake cycle.
Many of our hormones are produced in tune with the cycle of the sun. Stress/activating
hormones (black Line) are produced as the sun rises and peaks around mid-morning. As the day
progresses, the levels of the stress hormones decrease. The body then begins to increases
production of growth and repair hormones, (white line) as the sun goes down. Our bodies are
designed to wind down from sunset till about 10 pm when sleep and physical repair should
begin. Psychogenic repair takes place predominantly from about 2 am to 6 am.

Figure 2: Disrupted sleep/ wake cycle.
A typical day for many involves elevated levels stress levels, resulting in increased levels of the
stress hormones throughout the day (black line), resulting in decreased levels of growth and
repair hormones (white line). Although the healthy body can bounce back from intermittent
circadian stresses, chronic (ling-term) circadian stress often leads to depressed immunity, illness
and chronic fatigue.
SourceHow to eat move and Be Healthy, Pages 202-203, Copyright 2004, Paul Chek.
The Sl eep/ Wake Cycl e

Wellness Newsletter
Michelle Owen C.H.E.K. Practitioner Level 3, C.H.E.K. NLC Level 2